Page 3 of The Bodyguard

Two

Daphne’sis a pretty little Greek restaurant situated right on the Quayside, with a small outdoor terrace that overlooks the river. It’s a friendly, quaint, family-run restaurant, and we’ve been coming here for as long as I can remember. The food is always amazing, the atmosphere warm and friendly, and today is no exception. And even though it’s not quite summer yet, the weather’s been kind to us so far this week, so we’ve chosen to eat outside. The perfect place to people-watch.

“How are things at home?” Mum asks.

I tear off a piece of flatbread and dip it into some hummus. “Quiet.”

“It must be quite strange, living alone, after being with someone for so long. The house must feel rather empty.”

I narrow my eyes and stare at my mother as I pop the hummus-laden piece of flatbread into my mouth. “You’ll be asking if I miss him next.”

“Do you? Miss him?”

I pick up my wine and take a sip. “There isn’t a single thing I miss about him. Not one single thing.” And that’s true. When the man you’re about to marry sleeps with someone else – someone I, mercifully, didn’t know – it can render them suddenly meaningless. And I know it isn’t that way for everybody, some people can’t just switch those feelings off, no matter what that person’s done to them, but for David it was safer, for him, that I felt the way I did. That I let hate overtake any remaining remnants of love. Anything else could’ve been disastrous. “And this conversation, is it leading somewhere?” Because I can read my mother, like the proverbial book. And the way she’s just dipped her gaze there, albeit briefly, that tells me all I need to know. “Okay. What’s going on?”

Her eyes lock on mine, and I sit back and take another sip of wine. Now I know why she brought me here. Somewhere familiar. Somewhere I’m comfortable. Neutral territory.

“Your father and I, we think you should move back home, with us. Just for a little while.”

I wait a moment before I respond to that. Is she serious? “Why?”

She drops her gaze again, because she knows this is a conversation she didn’t want to have, it’s one Dad’stoldher to have. I’m only too familiar with how this shit works.

“You’ve been through a lot over the past month, Lena.”

“I’m single again, Mum, I’m not ill. I think I can just about cope with things.”

“Yes, I know, but living alone, in that empty cottage…”

“I lived alone in that empty cottage for four years before David arrived on the scene.”

She sighs, an exasperated one, I’m frustrating her, as I do quite a lot. I’ve never accepted anything without a fight, and this just doesn’t feel right, what she’s asking me to do. It’s an odd, out-of-the-blue request, and I’m not buying it.

“I just don’t get why I need to move back home. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Lena, please, can you just do as I ask, for once?”

Her tone is quite sharp, and it takes me a little by surprise, causing me to sit back in my seat and just stare at her. It’s unusual for Tawnee Nielsen to be anything other than calm and in control, but this afternoon she’s showing signs of deviating from that, and that’s what’s making me nervous. And then she sighs again, and drops her head, and I watch as she takes a long, deep breath. Okay. Something’s definitely going on, and I’d put money on me not liking it, whatever it is.

“Alright.” Mum raises her head, her eyes once more locking on mine, and she smiles. She’s flicked that switch and brought calm and in control Tawnee back to the forefront. “How about a compromise? Why don’t you come for dinner, Friday night?”

I narrow my eyes again and open my mouth to say something, but then decide against it. “Dinner?”

“Yes. A family dinner. You could stay over, make a weekend of it, your father would love to see you.”

“He saw me two days ago.”

“Lena? Please?”

It’s my turn to sigh. “Okay.”

“You’ll come? For the weekend?”

“Yes.” If it means that much to her, but I still think there’s something going on. And I still don’t think I’m going to like it. “Will Ollie be there?”

“He will.”

I’m not sure he knows about that yet, but he won’t be given much of an option to say no, either. And it doesn’t really matter whether he’s there or not, but I’ve a feeling I might need him for moral support.

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